An Issue of Size

Shrink to Fit
Vogue Italia April 2010
Ph: Steven Meisel
Styling: Karl Templer
Other Models: Abbey Lee Kershaw, Amber Valletta, Angela Lindvall, Geidre Dukauskaite, Gwen Loos, Monika "Jac" Jagaciak, Joan Smalls, Lara Stone

Here is an editorial where the concept and casting completely win me over. In what could have been a predictable and boring studio edit, Vogue Italia and Meisel give us something quite enchanting, whimsical and beautiful. The idea of doing a shoot where the clothes are too small, even for the models, is hilariously ironic. Perhaps a slight nod to the model size debate that seems to wage on endlessly without accomplishing any sort of institutional or ideological change?

If you've been following along, all the different camps like to point their fingers of blame at each other with no one group willing to take on even the slightest bit of responsibility. Designers say that agencies send them girls who are too thin. Agencies say that designers make sample clothes so tiny that they need thinner and thinner girls to fit into them. Both say that the general public does not want to see bigger girls in magazines and advertisements; for fashion is about fantasy and aspiration, and not reality and the truth. Who's to blame? Everyone? No one? Me? You?

I feel like Meisel is kind of thumbing his nose at the whole issue here, poking fun of things in a subtle but subversive way. Ok, so maybe "thumbing his nose" isn't the right phrase. Whatever he's doing, I feel like he's trying to say something about the debate, but I'm just not sure what. Or perhaps he was merely inspired by the debate and took it as a jumping off point for this story. Regardless, when I see this editorial in its entirety, I start thinking about the eternal conundrum, "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" Or in this case, "what came first, thin models or small sample sizes?" Try wrapping your head around that one.

At first glance, this editorial looks very similar to the one Meisel did for the March issue of Vogue US (also featuring Freja). Same studio setup and plain, drab background. But upon further inspection you begin to notice that the two stories couldn't be more dissimilar. The execution and underlying motivation of each really shows you how different Vogue US and Vogue Italia really are as publications in terms of creative freedom and expressive risk-taking. One's purpose is to showcase clothes for general mass consumption. The other's is to contribute to a larger, relevant fashion discourse and make you see and think about clothes in a new way. Amazing how all the same elements can result in such two different outcomes, for the context and the words "US" and "Italia" really do have that much of an impact on what an editorial by Meisel will look like.

Anyway, I really do enjoy the casting here. It's a little bit unpredictable, but at the same time it feels comfortable. I like seeing new girls get their chance, and if any older model needs a comeback it's definitely Amber. The styling is rather ingenious with no detail overlooked, even down to the models' too small shoes. (In Freja's last shot you can see her heel jutting out over the edge of her loafer. So brilliant.) I know that the hair styles have gotten a lot of flack and most people find them to be too distracting. But for me, the hair contributes another degree of charm to the whole story. I can just picture all the models getting pushed into the wash, and here they have all just emerged with their hair wet and disheveled, and their clothes shrunk.

Kind of makes you wonder, what size are those clothes if they look too small even for models? Quadruple zero? Size negative (does that even exist) ? Just another testament to the great styling and an overall great editorial concept. These images might not strike most people as being beautiful, but that doesn't mean that they aren't. For me they posses a beauty that goes beyond surface appearances down to ideas and the intellectual statement. And the way they challenge conventional fashion norms is also a beauty in and of itself.

Agree? Disagree? Did you get another reading? Let me hear it! :)

Image Credits: Scanned by tFS member Diciassette (17) @ tFS

Identification

Freja Beha, the Rock N Roll Star
i-D Magazine Spring 2010
Ph: Emma Summerton
Styling: Edward Enninful

After seeing Freja's i-D cover, I have to admit that I didn't have high hopes for her editorial inside. Well, I was most definitely pleasantly surprised by the lovely, albeit too short, only-girl story. Just four shots; all of them upper body ones with one profile shot. They're almost like a series of portraits, and that's what I think is so interesting about them. We haven't seen Freja in a story like this, so it's great to see her continually expand her fashion portfolio and her ability to converse with the camera.

With a story that's set up like this, I really think it's intent is to bring focus to the details of the clothes, rather than the full head-to-toe looks. At least, those details are what stood out to me enough that I ironically ended up wanting to see the runway looks in their entirety anyway. Like, I saw the intricacies in the Louise Golden piece and I just had to see the whole thing for comparison. The details made me appreciate the whole look....and the same can be said for the model.

By focusing on the natural charisma and grace of Freja's face (the details) this editorial makes us appreciate all her abilities as a model (the whole package). Earlier on I asked the question "Androgyny or femininity?" Well, here we have the perfect example of how easily and effortlessly Freja can traveling between both poles. This editorial is a great model profile piece in that it provides the girl with a vehicle by which to display her full skill and range in subtlety and emotion. To be able to carry this off successfully, you have to be a model who's well versed in all facets of human emotion and who's able to convey them with a slight alteration of the mouth here, or a slight arch of the brow there.

With the title bearing Freja's name, it's clear that she's supposed to be the star here and she most certainly delivers even within the limitation of four short pages. I love that she can be strong and dominant, showing us different aspects of her personality here. But she can just as easily be a mere clothes hanger, if the situation calls for it, letting the clothes take focus as was the case in her Vogue UK editorial.

I feel like this is a theme that I continually re-visit: how Freja moves freely about along all these different spectrums. Androgyny/femininity, high fashion/commercial appeal, strong/demure, etc... If I've learned anything from all the time that I spend analyzing and dissecting Freja's career, it's that in order to be a good model-nay a great one-you have to be able to be all things to all people but never lose the essence of your being in the process. It's quite the tall order, but all the tops girls can do it/have done it. Think Raquel. Think Daria. And people believe modeling is easy....well, it doesn't seem so easy to me.

Image Credits: Scans by yala_agni @ Fashion_Screen LiveJournal, style.it, vogue.co.uk

Dries Love

I usually don't take this space to dwell on designers, but I really wanted to write about my love for the Dries Van Noten show yesterday. And considering it was the first show Freja walked in to start off her Paris Fashion week, I thought this would be as appropriate a time as I would ever get. (Besides, it's no secret how I feel about Dries.)

I know I'm not equipped with the necessary technical vocabulary to express the beauty of these clothes, but I do know when something is so beautiful and so perfect that I just can't get it out of my mind. So, how do I even begin to describe the show yesterday?

It was elegant, yet basic. Wearable, yet aspirational. Simple, yet complex. Straightforward, yet deceptive. Maybe I like Dries so much because I think his clothes exist simultaneously on both ends of the spectrum, much like Freja and her ability to be both masculine and feminine, classic and contemporary, commercial and cerebral. I seem to be drawn towards things that can paradoxically embody opposing, even conflicting, notions. I guess that incongruity is what makes something interesting to me.

In addition to the above, my love for Dries also comes from the way he's able to execute the cut, fit, volume, proportion and silhouette of his clothing. Along with impeccable tailoring, I think he really has a masterful command of all these elements so he's free to play around with them and draw out new ideas from them. After all, it takes real skill to make something as mundane and ubiquitous as as grey sweatshirt seem impossibly luxurious and polished.

And elements like cinched waists, broad shoulders, upright collars, and color blocking take this collection beyond basics that you can find in any shop, for they all have that special Dries touch.

You see that touch in the way his pants start out with a lot of volume on top, but gradually reduce down by way of straps and zippers as your eye descends to the feet. You see it in his use of leopard print and muted floral patterns; not two things you would ever put together, but in his hands they seem right. You see it in his layering, and in something as simple, but so beautiful, as his slouchy cut-off sleeves.

And the bags....oh, the bags. I would die happy swimming in a sea of these.

Dries clothing is about as far away as you can get from my own personal style, but I think that's why I love it so much every season. It's special and meaningful beyond being something that I want to wear. It's always a collection that makes me reevaluate what I think I know about good clothing and how to dress. But more importantly, it's a collection that always makes me dream. And that's fashion at it's best.

Image Credits: style.com

Freisel

This image is so very Freja and I love it. In fact, I love the whole editorial because all the different models' personalities seem to shine through. The overall execution is perhaps a little lacking seeing as it's supposed to be a fashion editorial. But this is one instance where I think the concept succeeds in making up for any shortcomings elsewhere.

For her part, Freja presents to us a beautifully quiet and self-reflective moment. I love the juxtaposition of this intensely private moment with the chaos of the city. If you look, you can see references to New York in the sliver of the city visible through the window and the "I Love NY" t-shirt cookie on the cake. It's a city notorious for making people feel anonymous and completely alone, even though they're surrounded by millions of people. For me, this image is poignantly emblematic of that feeling, and absolutely fitting for Freja considering that she just moved away from Denmark (and family and friends) to New York.

This pervading sense of loneliness that I read is enhanced by the wisps of smoke emanating from the extinguished candles--they're like the signifiers for a presence once there and now gone. It's a brilliant touch because they also convey the passage of time (i.e. the onslaught of age that a birthday signifies) and the fleeting, instantaneous nature of the moment (i.e. the flames that were there a moment ago are now gone). And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the very things that people hope to capture and save through twitter? Isn't it a medium that allows us to document that very same passage of time and record those very same fleeting moments for posterity? Intentional or not, I find this one image so full of many things to analyze, and this self-referential quality is just one of them.

I also have to wonder whether this is in any way Freja's commentary on the modeling life. We've all read snippets from various interviews done by various models on how hard their lives can be with all the traveling and such. Abbey Lee just commented recently on how difficult it is to cultivate strong personal relationships when her schedule is so unpredictable. So, can models really be so lonely that they spend their birthdays like this? I doubt Freja spent her birthday alone, but I find it so intriguing that she would portray herself in this way. I don't know...maybe there doesn't have to be a reason for everything. I'm well aware that things can just be what they are for the sake of being. Maybe she just thought it would be funny and I can see the stream of humor here, especially in the "Sexy Beast" cookie.

Anyway, even though Meisel didn't take these pictures, this editorial is still very much his work. And perhaps this is why many people have a hard time with contemporary art and photography's place within. The traditional notions of the artist/creator are completely thrown out the window. In it's place we are faced with issues of authenticity, ingenuity, artistic skill and ownership. I could talk for hours about these types of issues, but I'll spare you. (For anyone who is interested, there is some fabulous writing out there about this stuff. "On Photography" by Susan Sontag, and "The Originality of the Avant Garde" by Rosalind Krauss (most notably her section on Rodin and his "Gates of Hell" sculpture) immediately come to my mind.)

But moving along, since this is truly Meisel's work, I'm still completely amazed and shocked that he included Freja. Either she has someone on her side at Vogue Italia, her agents are working overtime and good at compromising, or Meisel had a change of heart. Now I wonder if he'll work with Freja again, or if this was a one time thing? It's rather fitting though, that to end a decade's worth of work in VI, Meisel chose to include all his regular model favorites and a model that he's notoriously excluded for a better part of the decade. I think Meisel is too calculated and exacting in his work for that not to be intentional on his part. So with this in mind, and as great as it was to finally have Freja work with him, I have a feeling that "Freisel" sadly won't be a moniker we can ever use again. So we should just enjoy it while it lasts....although I would love to be proven wrong.

Image Credits: scanned by Diciassette (17) @ tFS